Tips and tricks to study better
How your study environment may be working against you

Jessica Hunter
Sci+Tech Writer

Dedicated to my brother, and others
like him, who could probably use this
advice . . .

H

aving recently finished my
undergraduate degree in
psychology, I spent many
long hours in the library working
alonside other students diligently
writing essays and doing practice
problems. Here I noticed that it
is just as common to see a student working as watching Netflix,
or scrolling through Instagram
(both of which I have been guilty
of ). I would like to propose that
a simple concept, called affordance theory, helps explain this
behaviour. By being aware of the
psychological implications of affordance theory, any student can
become a more productive studier
( just in time for finals).

The best
way to move
beyond these
goal-priming
conflicts is to
consistently
study in an
environment
designed for
studying.
Affordance theory, first introduced by 20th century American
psychologist James J. Gibson, belongs to the domain of Perception.
Gibson’s theory suggests that objects in an environment not only
convey perceptual information
such as shape, depth, and colour,
but also information about possible
actions that one can take in such an
environment, which he called affordances. Gibson suggested that
it is our perception of the environment that thus leads to certain actions. An object’s affordances are
processed subliminally, meaning
you don’t need to consciously consider the fact that a button affords
pressing, or a cup of water affords
drinking—your brain registers such
information automatically. I would
argue that it is by ignoring, or being
unaware of, this beautifully simple
idea of environmental affordances that many students ultimately
fail when they sit down to study.

Emily Carroll | The McGill Daily
Whether it’s your cellphone’s delicate buzz emanating from your
pocket, or your warm bed just visible in the periphery of your vision,
these everyday comforts ultimately
become “study hazards.”
In order to help students (or
anyone who wants to become
more productive) make better use
of their time, I have put together
this simple list of tips and tricks
to “out-smart” your senses and
study better.
Avoid studying in your bedroom,
especially your bed
If you’re in your bedroom,
chances are your mind isn’t focused
on studying. It’ll be distracted by
thoughts of sleeping, gaming, or
whatever else you do in your bedroom. A closely related idea to affordance theory is the psychological principle of “goal priming.” This
principle suggests that we are subconsciously prompted by our environment to pursue certain goals.
For example, when you cozy into
your bed to study, your brain will
associate this action with the goal
of sleeping: you become drowsy,
you rest your eyes for a minute,
until all of a sudden, you’re asleep.
Typically, this is not a productive
mental state when you are trying
to write an essay or study. It is also
for this exact reason that we are advised not to read, watch TV, or eat

in our beds, because then we begin
to associate the bed with waking
activities rather than with the (arguably) most important goal of a
bed: to sleep. For similar reasons,
it is advisable not to study in your
kitchen or living room because
these environments also prompt
goals like eating or relaxing.

In order to truly
focus on your
task at hand
you must try
to eliminate
these cognitive
distractors by
minimizing
their presence
in your
environment.
The idea here is simple — take
an environment used to engage in
a certain, specific range of tasks,
and then try to engage in another
task unfamiliar in that environment, and it will produce a goal
conflict. If studying is already a
challenge for you, do not add addi-

tional conflicts of interest through
the environment.
Study in an environment
designed for studying
The best way to move beyond
these goal-priming conflicts is to
consistently study in an environment designed for studying. The
most likely environment is probably your university library, but
could also be a public library, a
quiet cafe, a group study area, etc.
Experiment in order to find the
environment that works best for
you, but always keep in mind that
all environments prompt subconscious goals that may be working
for or against your desire to study.
Consider the technological
distractions in your
environment
Your phone is addictive. Yes, it
is. Whether you’re drawn to your
Snapchat notifications or YouTube, your phone can be considered a potential source of behavioural addiction. A behavioural
addiction may not produce a physical dependance like alcohol, heroin, or many other drugs, whose
addiction is characterized by tolerance (acclimation to certain
levels of the substance such that
more of the substance is needed to
produce the same effect) and withdrawal (removal of the substance
produces both negative physical

and psychological symptoms).
Instead, a behavioural addiction
is characterized by an addiction
to certain behaviours which produce rewards. Hypothetically, any
behaviour can become addictive,
especially ones with high reward
value, such as gambling (winning
feels good), eating (food tastes
good), or social media (social approval feels good).
Social media interactions provide social feedback, which provides us with a wealth of information as to our social approval index
and friend network, and also allows
us to form relative comparisons
between ourselves and others. The
danger lies in deriving our own selfvalue, or self-esteem, from these
contrived, virtual interactions. The
more we engage with these websites, the more focused we become
on our own relative standing in the
social media microcosm.
Where am I going with this?
This conversation surrounding
social media touches upon the
experience of many students who
frequent social media websites
daily, or hourly. Simply put, it is
hard to concentrate on studying
when you are thinking about how
many likes you may have gotten
on your latest Instagram post or
whether or not that attractive
person has accepted your Facebook friend request. In order to
truly focus on your task at hand
you must try to eliminate these
cognitive distractors by minimizing their presence in your environment. Accomplish this easily
with these tips:
a) Hide your cellphone or set it to
“do not disturb” mode.
b) Minimize your engagement
with technology when studying
by relying on only books, pen, and
paper. If you must use your laptop when studying, turn off the
internet to minimize incoming
distractions.
c) Temporarily deactivate your
accounts during intense study periods such as midterms or finals.
By being cognizant of the subtle
ways your study habits may be undermining your own academic success, you can shield yourself from
their detrimental effects and focus
on the task at hand—learning! Despite the drudgery of hauling oneself to McLennan in the freezing
cold, and the absolute monotony
of writing final exams, with these
study tips, I hope you can make
better use of the time you put into
your work!